Smart Balance Inc., the operator of natural foods brands such as Udi's Gluten Free and Earth Balance, is relocating its headquarters to Boulder from New Jersey and renaming the entity Boulder Brands Inc., company officials announced Tuesday.

Smart Balance (Nasdaq: SMBL) plans to base its corporate operations in downtown Boulder, where it expects to employ 50 to 60 people within its first year, said Steve Hughes, the company's chief executive officer and chairman.

"I've always viewed Boulder as the Silicon Valley of food," said Hughes, who previously served as an executive at Celestial Seasonings in Boulder and who has been based in Niwot when heading Smart Balance. "Boulder is synonymous with the (natural foods) industry, and we want to be right down there in the thick of things."

The sentiment was echoed by Naturally Boulder, the locally based nonprofit aimed at marketing and growing the Boulder natural products industry.

"Today's announcement by Smart Balance confirms Boulder's position as the Silicon Valley of the organic and natural products industry," Doug Radi, Naturally Boulder board president, said in a statement emailed to the Camera. "Companies like Smart Balance are drawn here because of the depth of resources our community offers, ranging from brand marketing and creative talent, to product development and finance expertise, to the ready availability of capital for smart, sustainable business ideas.

"Key Smart Balance businesses and executives have roots here in the Boulder/Denver area, and we're delighted to welcome their new headquarters to Boulder."

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As part of the reorganization, Smart Balance will maintain an office in New Jersey, for its finance and back office operations, and the company closed a former Glutino office in Lawrence, Mass., he said. Smart Balance plans to close a corporate office for the recently acquired Udi's and move those employees to expanded facilities in Aurora and to Boulder.

Hughes said he expects the headcount in Boulder to grow as the years progress.

The move represents a bit of a homecoming for Smart Balance.

Seven years ago, Hughes and business partner Jim Lewis formed Boulder Specialty Brands Inc. as a company focused on acquiring food and beverage companies. The two took the company to the public markets to fund its operations, and at the end of 2005, Boulder Specialty Brands had raised $102.1 million in an initial public offering.

The "blank check" IPO proved successful.

A year later, Boulder Specialty Brands used a combination of a private sale of its stock, proceeds from a public stock sale and debt to fund a $465 million acquisition of New Jersey-based GFA Brands Inc., which made Smart Balance and Earth Balance spread products.

The company subsequently rebranded as Smart Balance Inc. and moved the corporate headquarters to Paramus, N.J.

The focus for the firm was not only to expand the Smart Balance and Earth Balance brands' reach and sales by investing in developing new product lines and marketing efforts, but also to acquire other brands and do the same, Hughes said.

"I want to take the brands we feel really address a need and then put our innovation team and our sales and marketing teams, put them up against them and take them to a whole different level," Hughes said.

He also envisions Boulder Brands as a different animal than the Hain Celestial Group, which serves as an umbrella company for dozens of brands such as Celestial Seasonings, Jason, Earth's Best Organic and Spectrum.

"Hain was a great consolidator in the industry," Hughes said. "We really want to be the innovator in the industry."

Last year, Smart Balance Inc. posted a $9.66 million net income and nearly $275 million in revenue.

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